Vulnerability
by Hinoto Nobukaze
Summary: Chapter 12 UPLOADED! Saionji saves Juri as an act of heroism, and now Juri owes him. Since it was only right, she agreed to do what he says though it was begrudgingly so. But, what unexpected twists are ahead? JuriXSaionji R
1. Chivalry

**A/N: I know, I know…I'm already starting another fanfic when I haven't even finished the one I started. In all actuality, I have finished the one that I started, on paper and in typing; my beta is just taking her sweet time on the project. I understand though, she's been dealing with a family loss and those things are always so hard. I commend her for being able to beta read and deal with her family in the process. Plus she's been flamed on a fanfic by some pretentious idiot who flames for the sake of flaming, so I dedicate this fanfic to her, in hopes that she'll get better and just ignore the bastard flamer.**

**God the sheer audacity of people sometimes.**** I think some people deserve to have stupid written on their forehead.**

**Anyway on with the fanfic, but first, my basic information.**

**Category: Utena**

**Title: Vulnerability**

**Rating: PG-13**

**Genre: Romance/Humor**

**Pairing: SaionjiXJuri**

**Warnings: Odd pairing, mild language, a bit of sexual preferences...eh that's all I can think of now.**

**Summary: Saionji saves Juri as an act of heroism, and now Juri owes him. Since it was only right, she agreed to do what he says though it was begrudgingly so. But, what unexpected twists are ahead?**

**DEDICATED TO ONEESAN NO MIROKU HOUSHI**

**Disclaimer: Do I look like Chiho Saito or Kunihiko Ikuhara? NO. So you know what that means….disclaimers are pointless and I don't own Utena.**

**Vv**

**Vulnerability**

**Chapter 1: Chivalry**

**By: Hinoto Nobukaze**

**Vv**

A lone figure walked down a silent street. They walked at a quick pace, heading to across the road. Around the corner, a car came speeding down the lane, just as the figure was walking across the street. The form was that of an adolescent girl, with shoulder length orange curly hair. The young woman was dressed in her Seitokai attire. This figure was known as Arisugawa Juri.

Juri looked into the headlights, her body seemed to glow a luminescent yellow.

Right as the impending doom neared, Juri felt herself being propelled through the air, well-built arms wrapping around her form. She felt herself fall on the frosty, durable, pavement, scraping an elbow as she did, but it was a small price to pay for what was about to happen to her.

"Ugh..."

Juri slowly pulled herself up from the frosty, inflexible surface. She noticed the arms still around her and felt her body being pushed into another, which was located promptly behind her. The coiled haired woman felt the soft fabric wrinkling behind her.

Juri noticed the arms still lingering. On the left hand of the figure, was a rose signet ring. The pink blossom on the sing catching the light and making it shine under the street lamp.

Azure eyes widened at the ring. _'A rose signet.'_

The curly haired duelist looked behind herself to see abundant green locks spilling out over the ground. The light above illuminating them with an almost angelic beauty. The smell of the rose scent was consuming the air beside of her.

Her eyes widened to see what her discoveries had found.

There, lying on the ground was Kyouichi Saionji, the pile of green hair cascading around his head and onto the roadway. His face was concealed somewhere underneath it.

Slowly and surely, Saionji lifted his head up, revealing his heliotrope eyes, shimmering with beauty in the streetlight, accented with a golden yellow.

"If you want to commit suicide, do it some other night." Saionji's voice came.

"I wasn't committing suicide; I was _trying _to walk across the street." The orange rose replied sardonically.

"You should be lucky, if I hadn't have seen you, you would have become one with the pavement." Saionji replied, getting up and dusting off his uniform.

Juri glared at him from her laying position on the ground and remained in silence.

"Well…" He glared down at her.

"All right, all right…Thanks…" She muttered the last word.

The curly haired duelist gradually made her way up.

"I owe you…And your right." Her look softened to what would be considered a typical look for her.

"Since I saved your life, you have to do what I say." Saionji smirked, knowing just how to erk Juri.

"What?" She whirled around at light speed, her curls hitting her in the face as they caught up with her body.

"I saved you, and you owe me." The green rose crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby street post.

"I can't do that!" She protested.

"Oh no?" Saionji asked, in a taunting yet amused manner.

He received a sub-zero glare from Juri as a response.

"You're in debt to me. May I remind you? "

"You bas-"Juri was cut off as she received a smirk from Saionji.

_'Ugh…Smartass…' _She thought cynically. "Fine, whatever, but I'm not your slave."

"There will be no need for that." The male voice intoned.

"You slap me, and you won't be able to have children…"

Saionji felt an inward crack from that last comment. True, he knew how to get on her nerves, but he had feelings just as any human would. The green haired man knew by his treatment of the Rose Bride in the past, that he would probably never live the slapping gesticulation down.

"There will be no need for **_that _**either." His voice seemed to go monotone as he walked mechanically past her, then he stopped and looked over his shoulder at the form behind him.

"Wait!" Juri spun around the other way. "Why are you doing this? What do you want from me?"

"You shall see." Was the only reply. "See me after school tomorrow."

_'Like I want to, but I really don't have a choice in this matter. I have to stay true to my word…Even if it IS to someone like him.' _She thought while watching him walk out of sight. _'Besides, I'm going to show him that I am above him…Not below.'_

"Besides, why does he want **me **of all people? Maybe he just wants to torture me…I wouldn't doubt it. I don't think he's above it, by any means." Juri said aloud as she walked the other direction.

"It's getting late out here. I'm going to have a long day as Saionji's _slave_ tomorrow."

She continued to walk on to her dorm in the deep stillness of the dark.

"After all, am I not in debt to him…I'll let him have his fun, but he'd better beware. I'm no Anthy."

**TBC**

**Preview:**

**Not being the type to trust just anyone, let alone a guy, Juri doesn't plan on doing any more than taking a quick glance at Saionji and walking away. But, things don't always go the way they are planned and sometimes, it's for the better.**

**A/N: Well, that's it for chapter 1. I know, not much there, barely even 1000 words! Sorry about that, it's more like a prologue then an actual chapter 1. Anyway, please R&R and tell me what you think.**

**To my beta reader: Cheer up, Oneesan! I'm sure this will make you feel better. Chapter 2 is on its way!**

**To everyone else: Please R&R!**


	2. Fate

**A/N: The last chapter was rushed, but that's how it happened according to the characters P.O.V. Some more things are going to be uncovered in this chapter, like why Juri agreed to Saionji's proposal.**

**Here is chapter 2! Enjoy!**

**Vulnerability**

**Chapter 2: Fate**

**By: Hinoto Nobukaze**

_'I can't believe I'm doing this…' _Juri berated herself as she walked over to Saionji at the end of classes for that day.

"You actually showed up." Saionji's voice intoned.

"And **what **is that supposed to mean?" Juri asked.

"I didn't expect anything like that from you."

"Ugh, just shut up and let's go wherever you want to go." The coiled haired woman walked ahead a few paces.

The kendoist walked a few paces following her. "I know what you could do for me…as a favor for owing me your life."

_'Ugh!...Why me? Why did I ever agree to his terms? I guess that's what I get for just wanting him off of my back…' _Juri's thoughts berated her. _' I should have just thought through all of this before thinking about how busy I was that day, or how I wanted to get away from him because he disgusts me…'_

"What?" The woman finally asked in an unamused voice.

"You can spend a week with me." He replied, knowing that she couldn't stand 10 minuets with him, much less a week.

"Let me guess, starting now…Right?" Juri asked.

She got a silent nod from the green haired man.

_'This must be some ironic twist of fate…' _Juri thought to herself. _'But, if I don't do anything, he'll just annoy me into it. He **did **save my life, and no matter how I disdain him, I feel I owe him that much.'_

♥♥

In Saionji's dorm, both stood there, in complete silence, staring at each other.

"Nice conversation." The female duelist finally said, after hours of silence.

"I have nothing to speak of."

"So, you want me to stand here and watch the paint flake?" The orange rose finally replied, looked around.

Saionji sat at the stumpy wooden table in his dorm room. "I never said you had to stand there."

Irresolute, the orange haired girl walked over and sat on the conflicting side of the table, across from Saionji.

"Why exactly are you doing this?" She asked. "I thought that you couldn't stand me, not that you **can **stand much?"

"Very damn funny. I'm doing it because you owe me for saving your ass." He stated simply. "And I know you're so utterly _annoyed _at that fact."

"You assho- - !" A cup of tea was handed to her. The woman glared unemotionally at the tea.

"What? Are you going to glare at it so hard that maybe one day it will evaporate?" The green haired man asked, sitting the cup down on the table across from him.

"No, I just don't want to be poisoned." Juri huffed.

"It's not poisoned."

"How do **I **know that?" She crossed her arms.

"What? Do I have to taste test the damn thing?" Saionji asked.

Juri picked up the cup and examined it. Within the tea, there were several leaves, in which she gave a look of suspicion towards.

"There's something in here."

"Yes, they are called leaves." Saionji remarked sardonically.

"What kind of leaves? Could be Night Shade-"

Her sentence was cut off by the green haired man reaching over the table, taking her cup and sipping a bit from it. After wards, he sat it back in front of Juri and leveled her with a glare.

"Now, if I die, you'll know I poisoned it. Besides, why would I save you from a car, just to kill you in my dorm room? I would have rather let the car hit you."

The orange haired duelist picked up the glass and took it up to her mouth, as if she were going to drink it, then promptly sat it back down.

"What now?" The green haired duelist was beginning to get aggravated. "For the **_last _**time, if I were going to kill you, I would have let the car hit you."

"I'm not involuntarily kissing you." Was the monotone reply from Juri.

_'Irritating woman.'_Saionji thought to himself. "Like I would want to kiss you."

"The feeling is mutual."

"The "Night Shade leaves" you speak of are actually peppermint leaves." Saionji spoke as he switched the glasses. "There, now you won't indirectly kiss me."

"How do I know that you haven't drunk out of that one?" The orange rose replied.

"Does it _look _like I drunk out of it? Look at the glass. You didn't **_see _**me take any drinks did you?" He huffed.

"I don't trust it."

"You don't trust me either."

"Would you like the true answer to the statement?" Juri intoned.

Amethyst eyes just glared in her direction.

"So, am I to meet here in this drab dorm room with you and be your slave until the week is over?" Juri asked.

"A week?" Saionji questioned, sipping the tea gingerly from the teacup, then sitting it down on the table with a light rasp of the porcelain to the wood.

"Isn't that what you said?" The curly haired duelist replied, looking skeptically at the green rose.

"I suppose it is."

Juri looked at the teacup then took a drink of the contents within.

"Thought it was Night Shade?"

Juri huffed in reply. "If I die, you die."

"Hmpf." The male duelist smiled and small smirk and closed his eyes. "So, you've learned to trust."

"Not really. Just stand you and hope I don't die because I at least owe you enough to drink your "tea"."

"Does it taste like peppermint?" He asked quaintly.

Juri took her lips away from the teacup. "I suppose it does."

She looked into the tea that the teacup held within, the darkened looking peppermint leaves swirling around in the tea, causing ripples in the liquid surface. _'This had better not be an indirect kiss.'_

She drank from the tea cup.

_'But I can at least learn to trust him…against my better judgment. I may as well make the best of this week of hell.'_

**TBC**

**Preview:**

**Juri gets a dose of reality in the most painful of forms, but when the dorms' usual occupant shows back up, perhaps he'll finally have someone to turn to.**

**A/N: That's all for now. I hope you all enjoyed that chapter. It was kind of hard to write, but the next chapter will be less challenging. Anyway, without giving anything away, please R&R!**


	3. Pit of Despair

**A/N: Here is the next chapter. In this chapter, Juri will find out some things about Saionji from reading his actual diary, not the exchange diary that him and Anthy share. **

**Juri finds out some of Saionji's deepest darkest secrets.**

**♠♠♠**

**Vulnerability**

**Chapter 3: Pit of Despair**

**♠♠♠**

After school a few days after she had initially promised, Juri showed up at Saionji's dorm. She knocked on the door flippantly and waited for a few minuets there was nothing but calm.

"Hmm…" Juri stood there, and then knocked on the door again, with a more rapid paced and goaded rasping on the door.

_'Just my luck.__ I show up at his room dorm door, right after school and he's not even here. Well, guess I'd better go in and wait for him when he comes back, though I don't know WHY I'm doing this….He must be out practicing his kendo.' _The orange haired woman thought to herself.

She twisted the door knob to see if the door opened, and well enough, it did. The woman looked a bit perplexed by the fact that Saionji would leave his door ajar.

"He shouldn't just leave his room door unlocked; he could get everything stolen in here." She told herself as she walked into his room, the monochromatic shades of green surrounding her. There were green satin bed sheets, green roses on the table, green curtains…

The tall woman walked in and sat at the table. On the table, besides the green roses, were two books. Azure eyes looked to the two books.

She picked up one of the books and read through the pages. _'If he's going to keep me locked up in here, might as well get some blackmail Besides, it's not my fault he didn't keep his end of the deal. He shouldn't have left his room unlocked.' _

Juri glanced at the exchange diary, temptation slowly luring her into its grasp. She picked up the book up and flipped through the pages.

Stopping on a random entry, she read:

_'My dearest Anthy,_

_Through we are outlying apart, my love for you grows by the day. I will win you back from that punk tomboy, **Tenjou**** Utena. I **will be the one who shows you something perpetual…'_

The book was shut and sat it back on the table. "What a bunch of sentimental rubbish. It's pathetic."

Her eyes scanned over to the other book. A shady green book with a black rose signet in the middle.

"What's this?" She questioned.

The woman picked up the book and opened it. A dehydrated green rose in-between the cover and the first page, which had Saionji's name extolled on it in green kanji symbols.

She placed a finger in-between some pages and opened the book in what seemed like the middle of an entry.

_'I must train more. There is no cause for weakness. Who am I trying to kid?... I am a loser. That's why I threw that trophy in the lake, because I never deserved it. I tried to convince myself that I had earned it…My efforts will forever be disregarded._

_I am nothing, and I know this… _

_That is why I never attended Seitokai meetings, unless it was in my best interest. Why would I want them to see me at my weakest? I had cared so much when I was little…But that innocence had been stripped. Those kind mannerisms are gone._

_To be cold is the only option. I must shun them, and, in turn be shunned back.'_

_'What the - -?' _Juri's eyes widened a bit.

The woman flipped through the pages until she reached the beginning of the entries, and began to read through them from the beginning.

_'I suppose I bought this to write in. To express my true feelings and I don't mean the ones I share with Anthy, though I will cover that subject as well. No one will have to know about this, as long as I keep this hidden, no one will have to know, or call me weak on the matter. If they ever knew how pathetic I truly was, they'd just laugh at me…Well, more then they already do._

_I suppose my problems stem from childhood. I've always been pushed to excel to unbelievable limits. Limits that the other duelists couldn't even excel themselves. My father was my master and my mother was dead. She had passed away after giving birth to me. I never knew her that well and had often times wondered how things would be if she were still alive. I wonder if she would have liked me, or if she would have treated me like father did. But that is far from reality…_

_Things were hard back then, the memories make my stomach churn. I was never good enough for him…They got praise so easily, and yet if I worked to the point of fainting from exhaustion, I would only get a slap in the face for my efforts._

_All I ever wanted…Was for him to be proud of me…'_

Juri frowned. "So, that's one of the reasons behind your kendo hall training. Still trying to please your father?"

_'I had even won the kendo Championship, but I was told that I had won it by fluke. I cannot count how many days I've sat and cried, clutching that "False Hope". It was painful and degrading to hold something that I had not won fairly. It felt like everyone was laughing at me for holding it…I'm sure the other kendoists had a hell of a time laughing.'_

Suddenly, Juri felt the slight twisting of the door knob. She quickly shut the book and sat it back on the table.

The green haired author walked in, carrying his practice sword over his right shoulder. Juri acted as informal as ever.

"So, you're here." Saionji stated.

"Surprised?" Juri replied.

"Yes, I didn't think you'd show." He sat across the table from her still dressed in his kendo attire. "How long have you been waiting?"

"A while." Was the simple reply.

Saionji sat at the other side of the table, placing his hands atop the surface. One of his hands had a colorless cloth around it, tainted with a crimson liquid. The woman stared at his hand.

"What happened to you?"

"Why is it of your concern?"

"It's not. I never knew you wrote in two exchange diaries." She pointed to the two books on the table.

"Only one is an exchange diary." He cast his usual defiant stare.

"Are you glaring at me or maybe your face got stuck like that from being angry so much?"

"……."

"What? You act like I said something wrong."

"It's none of your concern." He picked up the green book from the table, walked over slowly and dropped it into the garbage.

Juri walked over to the can and picked the book up. "Do you have to over react to everything?" She sat the book back on the table.

"If it's so unimportant to you, then…" The cynical woman opened the book and began to read, but before she could, the book was slammed shut by two masculine hands on both sides.

"Someone has a guilty conscience."

_'He's more pathetic then I thought. He'll do anything to try and hide his pain.'_

"As I have said before: None of your concern." Saionji stressed.

He took the book away…

…Or, at least he tried to because Juri's appendage was still attached to it.

"What are you hiding?" She asked casually, smiling.

"Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong." The green haired man's hand shook with the book.

"There must be **something **in here that you don't want me to see." She replied. "And I'm going to find out."

**TBC**

**Preview for chapter 4:**

**This book of Saionji's leaves Juri with many questions, but not so many answers.**

**A/N: Man that took a while to write. Sorry about that. Anyway, I took some things from The Darker Shades of Green, which is Red Rose Touga's fanfic. She gave me permission and part of the credit goes to her for this one. **

**P.S. Please feel well soon Oneesan no Miroku Houshi!**


	4. All In Your Head

**A/N: Juri and Saionji's fight continues! This chapter isn't as humorous as my normal ones, but it's getting dark. I decided to darken this up to show people a serious side of their relationship. This is moving faster then The Other Side of the Picture!**

**Big thanks to Red Rose Touga for letting me use parts of The Darker Shades of Green in this fanfic.**

**Oneesan no Miroku Houshi- Get well soon! We love you!**

**Please RR!**

****

**Vulnerability**

**Chapter 4: All in Your Head**

****

"Let go, damn it!" Saionji's voice quaked as the tug of war between the two commenced.

"This is childish." Juri replied.

"Yes, it is…"

"Give it up!" The curly haired swordfighter replied as she pulled back on the book, leaning her body in closer to Saionji. The green haired kendo captain reached his other hand up to assist the one tugging on the book, but it was soon cut off from it's destination by the orange rose's other hand, clasping his wrist.

"Huh?" Amethyst eyes widened. "Why are you so hell-bent on this?"

"I want to know what you're hiding."

"Why do you care?" The green haired man asked in a stressed voice.

"I don't." Juri replied.

Saionji's hand began to slip. He let out an intake of breath as Juri smiled a sly smile. She jerked the book out of the green haired man's hand. The kendoist fell forward on the table. The room was still, except for the spray of water on the floor.

The Vice President lay still on the table, body motionless, doll-like, cascades of green curls tumbled over the table's edge and spiraled downward, like vines of a plant. Juri sat back, holding the book in one hand and Saionji's wrist in the other.

She flipped open the book, when suddenly both her wrists were being held. Azure eyes widened. Saionji was on his knees in front of her, grasping her wrists; the man looked up at her, heliotrope eyes full of dismay, showing the instability and inner torture of his being, the color sloshing around in pools.

"Please…" A whisper of a beg emitted from his mouth. "Don't read it…"

_'Is he…Begging me?' _Juri thought as she looked at the man's pleading face.

She closed her eyes. "I already have."

A small intake of breath was heard.

"I read it while you were out. You just left it lying on the table for the world to see, and I was bored, so I read it. You shouldn't have just left it laying arou-"She was cut off by the sounds of sniveling and choking.

It was Saionji.

_'Is he…crying?' _Juri thought. "Look…I…"

Her eyebrows formed into a look of concern. The orange haired girl sat the book at her side.

_'Why do I care so much about him now? I have enough information to threaten to ruin his name even further and get myself out of this predicament, but there's got to be more to him then that. Just what is he hiding? What else is there? It may be beneficial to hear it from him, rather then read it from his book.'_

She drew herself closer to Saionji. _'What am I doing? I disdain him!'_

The woman ran a hand through the silken green locks and held the ends of the silky substance.

"Don't touch me." The man mumbled in a small voice.

"Look, it's no big deal. It was just a book…" Juri told him, her voice held a slight twinge of concern.

"I said don't touch me!" He took a hand from his face and drew it back, as it went flying forward, about to make contact with Juri's face in an authoritative slap, it was caught by a feminine arm, and a slap was delivered to him. His head turning sideways and his body shooting to the side. Green hair was flying and so were the tears he cried.

His dejected face lit up with surprise.

Someone had slapped him back.

"I'm no Anthy, you can't slap me around like you do her." She put her hands on either of his shoulders. "Stop being so weak!"

The green haired man sat there, looking decrepit, tears streaming down his face. He tried to muster up a glare, but couldn't through the tears.

"I am weak." He admitted in a whisper, and hung his head. "Now that you've read that book. You know as well. Aren't you going to humiliate me? I know you want to take it away! Take it away until there's nothing left. "

"I don't need to humiliate you; you're doing it on your own." Juri told him simply. "Always overdramatic, eh? I only read the first couple of pages."

"…" Was Saionji's only reply.

"Just because that stuff happened to you when you were a child doesn't mean you're totally insignificant."

"Huh!" Saionji snapped his head up and through the lingering tears in his eyes surprise showed. Had Juri just complimented him? Had she just told him he was worth something?

"Everyone has a weakness, though they don't like to admit it…Even me…" The curly haired woman narrowed her eyes. Had she just told him that she was no different from him? Her eyes widened.

_Why the hell am I being so nice to him? Look at him! He's pathetic!...and yet…He reminds me some of myself…He's been through hell and back, with hell winning. True, he's what I disdain, but does that mean that I also disdain myself? Is all I truly disdain him for is being a man?...Or could it be that he is everything I fear of becoming…'_

"Why aren't you making fun of me?" He asked desperation and confusion illuminating his eyes. Then his eyes widened even more as slender hands ran down his arms. He looked up at her, the tears still brimming his eyes.

_'What's she doing?' _The green haired man thought to himself as her head drew nearer to his face, her warm breath seeming to burn away the tears on his face. _'Why isn't she taking the opportunity to put my name to shame, as she usually would? She knows the things I keep hidden even if it's only a couple of pages, so why?_

_Here I am, at the pit of my despair, looking more pathetic then I ever I know and she doesn't even say anything to me!_

_Is she trying to…comfort me? I should smack the hell out of myself for ever suggesting such a ludicrous thing!.. Did she just admit she was weak?' _Saionji looked mystified by this.

"What's that look for?" Juri asked. "Did you finally process what I said?"

"Did you?" A finger was put to his lips. He jolted at the contact.

The hand that was on his lips moved to his shoulder, then he could feel himself falling, green silken strands wisping at his face as he did so. He soon landed on the floor with a straight view of the ceiling.

The man turned his head to see the orange haired girl's face twisted into a serious look. His lips parted to speak, but that small hole closed itself once more.

_"I am weak as well."_ Juri's words went through his thoughts.

The two stared into each other's eyes Saionji's eyes were full of pain and sorrow. They sparkled in the dim lighting of the room, stubborn tears still brimming them, their mulish host refusing to let them fall.

The orange rose seemed transfixed on the violet eyes, which seemed to look at you from a far even when he wasn't looking at you. Her azure eyes calm, peaceful and looking understanding.

_'Why do I not feel any animosity towards this woman? Why do I feel like…She understands me?' _He thought.

_'Why do I feel as if…We share the same pain…Actually, I've felt that way for a while…Actually, it's been that way ever since I've known you. That constant pain you feel…I've made myself cold because of you. I didn't want to be like you…You are my reason to not let myself fall…'_

They lay there as one, the woman's arm over the man's chest, holding onto his shoulder. Her other hand still gripping his wrist, she gave it a tender compress, which made Saionji perplexed even more.

**TBC**

**Preview for Chapter 5:**

**A long night ahead, thoughts racing through his head.**** Will Saionji finally be able to rest easy?**

**A/N: Well, that's the end of one chapter, more to come in the next one. I hope this wasn't OOC, I hope I didn't do anything wrong. I really wanted to make Saionji IC and to those Saionji haters. Saionji is a HUMAN with FEELINGS, he DOES cry and he HAS cried before in the series when he stabbed Touga across the back and when he was fighting Utena, though there was one tear in his eye it still happened. He also cried in the manga when he lost Anthy to Utena. **

**So there…I wanted to know if it was IC for him to cry at that type of thing, having someone reveal his inner most feelings and making him vulnerable to someone he hates.**

**Please RR!**


	5. Vulnerability

**A/N: Here is another chapter full of talking. Juri and Saionji are discussing things. There are many things to come and the two of them will soon show each of their similarities and I hope to convince people that this is not such an out there couple. **

**Now RR!**

**T T T T T T T **

**Vulnerability**

**Chapter 5: Vulnerability**

**By: Hinoto Nobukaze**

**T T T T T T T T**

"Why are you doing this?" Saionji asked, looking back up to the ceiling.

"Is it what I'm doing, or what I'm not doing that confuses you?"

"Both." He replied as his view of the wonderful spot on the ceiling was distorted by a rose. The rose was emerald, each part of it accented with the water that had spilt.

The man's head shifted to her, his morose amethyst eyes looking at her. "Don't you hate me?"

Juri, who was now lying on her side, propping herself up with one elbow closed her eyes and smiled. "Who knows?"

"What did you mean? When you said you were weak?" He asked.

The orange haired girl bit her lip a bit before vocalization. Her gaze went to the ground. "We're not so different…" The duelist's barely perceptible voice came, as if she didn't want to even tell him, but figured she owed him for looking in his book.

There was a silence before the woman spoke again.

"We feel a lot of the same things. We just deal with them differently." The woman looked at his bandaged hand. "What's really the deal behind that cut? Are you one of those masochists?"

"I made a miscal-"Saionji was cut off by Juri's firm voice.

"Miscalculation my ass. What's the truth?"

He shut his eyes, the last of the tears rolling down his face, finally hitting the mass of emerald locks before it made its way to the floor. "Long story."

"We've got time."

"Well, I wanted to relieve the pain…so I did." Saionji had given up retaliation, figuring since Juri already had known, telling it all wouldn't hurt him any more then he already was.

The vice president lifted the hand with the crimson stained cloth around it. The cloth unwound itself from his hand to reveal the cut on his palm. The green haired man turned his head away.

"So, that's what those boys were talking about when they came out of the bathroom and claimed to have seen a huge stain on the mirror of the men's bathroom. I thought they were just making it up."

"It wasn't entirely true. The stain wasn't gigantic. It was just a small trickle of blood. I wasn't even in my right mind at the time." Saionji replied.

_'Why am I telling her this?'_

"When are you?" Juri asked. "In my personal opinion, you're psychotic. Anyone can tell that by your anger which drives you insane when you duel and become reckless. You cloud your senses with anger, and that's how you lose."

The kendoist flinched. He knew in his heart she was correct, even if he weren't ready to admit it to himself.

"Why are you being so avoidant?" Juri asked.

"What? Do you not want to tell me because I read your book?"

"…"

"Still as stubborn as ever."

"I could say the same thing about you."

"Huh?"

"You always want to disprove miracles, but I know the truth." He smiled. His smile was a kind smile, not his normal egotistical façade.

Juri turned her head with an annoyed look on her face, thinking that Saionji would try and prove her wrong, believing that he would prove her wrong.

"There are no such things as miracles." They both said in unison.

"What?" The female duelist looked over at him, astonishment in her eyes.

_'What did he just say to me?' _She thought to herself.

"I'm not going to prove you wrong on this one. I may have contradicted things before that you have said, but I agree with you there. If there were such thing, it would have happened long ago."

The female's eyes widened. _'He doesn't want to prove me wrong, like everyone else?'_

_"Damn it.' _Saionji thought. _'Why do I feel so vulnerable to her? I know I should have put up that book after I had finished writing in it, but I was careless, and I expected better out of her not to care enough to read it. Nothing seems to go my way…so why do I always expect it to?'_

"You do agree?" She looked surprised.

"What? Did you think I would believe in miracles? What miracles? Why should I believe in something that never happens? No miracles and nothing eternal."

"So, that's why you've given up. You lost all belief. Not that I have anything to believe in either."

"Is that what you wanted to revolutionize the world for? To disprove miracles?" He asked.

"I suppose."

There was a long silence, as Juri flipped onto her back, staring at the ceiling along with Saionji.

"So, "She finally spoke up. "What's so interesting on the ceiling?"

"…" Was the only thing she heard. Juri turned her head to look at the kendoist. He looked wretched. A deep set frown plastered to his face, his sad eyes illuminated with many colors. "Are you happy now? Now that you know my secrets?"

"You act like it's the end of the world. I already told you that I'm not going to say anything about your damn book."

"I don't trust you."

"Look, whatever." The curly haired duelist made a face of frustration. "Do what you want."

"…" Was her reply as he closed his eyes.

**Preview for chapter 6:**

**Juri makes an odd request that shakes more then Saionji's nerves.**

**A/N: I know, I know, that was mean.**

**Please check out Oneesan no Miroku Houshi and Red Rose Touga's fanfics. Oneesan was the original founder of this couple, and I thank her and her wonderful fanfics, The Unspoken Heart and Who's In The Locket? Which started the whole fanfic revolution for this couple.**

**Please RR!**


	6. Your Face Haunts

**A/N: Here we are with another chapter. I'm sure you've been wondering about Saionji and Juri from last chapter, well now you'll find out, **

**BEFORE YOU THINK IT'S OOC, READ TO THE END IT'S NOT WHAT IT SEEMS AND IT IS IC!**

**♥♥♥**

**Vulnerability**

**Chapter 6: Your Face Haunts**

**By: Hinoto Nobukaze**

**♥♥♥**

He came into the chasm of darkness and an odd sensation befell him.

Soon after, Saionji felt a small, warm hand touch his bare flesh…Bare flesh? He hadn't removed his shirt, nor was it flung open. The hand felt small, elegant, and feminine and had long tapering fingers.

Blushing slightly at the intimate contact, The green haired man slowly opened his eyes to see the hand stuck under his shirt, running along the muscle play of his chest.

He turned his head quickly to the side, staring into azure eyes looking at him.

Amethyst eyes widened "J-Juri?"

"Yes, Saionji?" She asked, almost purring his name.

"What the hell are you ?" A finger was put to his lips, silencing him and cutting off his sentence.

"When I said I've understood you for quite sometime, I meant it, in more then you'll ever know." Saionji could feel the right side of his shirt fall over his shoulder, due to Juri's "helping hands".

"What do you mean by that?" The man asked.

"I've always understood you. I just hated you because you reminded me of my own weakness. You've the pit of everything I don't want to be. So miserable…So weak…Giving in to others easily, and yet, you still want to excel above them." The female duelist purred into his ear, twirling a lock of green around her finger.

Purple eyes widened a bit, and then looked distressed as he could feel the inward strike Juri had made to his heart.

She was right though.

"And you know the Rose Bride doesn't really love you. She doesn't even have feelings, much less feeling anything for you. As long as you are engaged to her, you can just live in that delusion."

Amethyst eyes gave a flash of hurt as Juri began to tell him what she thought was the callous truth.

"Is that why you gave up wanting something eternal, because you have failed to show her? Because Tenjou Utena took your place and Himemiya doesn't even seem to acknowledge you?" The orange haired female spoke. All the green rose could do is look sorrowful and stare at the ceiling.

"You failed at being her prince as well. You were better off in that Rose Bride dress."

The other side of Saionji's shirt slipped from his left side, leaving him shirtless before her, his pale skin being illuminated by the orange tints of the sky. Juri's hand never left his chest. Juri brought her other hand over to cup his chin, turning his face to look at her sheer sadness and the lack of will to prevent it shown in his heliotrope eyes.

"You're so vulnerable when your sad…Such beautiful eyes." She smiled.

Saionji closed his eyes, finally letting subdued words of retaliation vocalize through. "Stop."

The orange haired girl got closer to his face, letting her lips brush against his. Saionji made no efforts to fight back.

"If you're going to take advantage of me, the do it and quit shitting around. I can't get any "

He was cut off by Juri capturing his lips. The kendoist was in too much of a dejection to really worry about what was happening. The green haired man felt like an empty shell inside.

He was dead.

The green rose duelist lay there, letting the orange rose kiss him, for reasons unknown, that and the fact that he was in no mood to want to move. All he could do was stare vacantly at Juri, seeming to stare through her.

"You're no different then Himemiya. You don't have a will of your own. If you did, then you lost it, and I always thought you were the stubborn one."

All of a sudden, he felt as if there were more of a draft. He looked down to see that his clothes had vanished. Now the man was even more vulnerable to her. There he lay, wrecked and exposed on the ground, thrown into complete despair, with no will left to fight back, plus he was being molested by his opponent, whom in which he thought couldn't stand him.

"If you're so used to having no will, then maybe you can be my Rose Bride, and I can be your prince. We can start the consummation ceremony…Now."

Juri climbed a top of Saionji.

Amethyst eyes shot open as Saionji sat bolt straight on the floor. He looked around wildly. There was no Juri, he still had his clothes on, and everything seemed as normal as could be.

There was a look of perplexity of his face as he propped himself up.

_'What the **fuck **was that about!' _He thought.

"What the hell?" Saionji said absentmindedly.

"I must have been dreaming…But could this dream be true?...Why am I thinking that! Why did I even **_have _**a dream about Arisugawa! This is one messed up day…"

He looked around the room, the green roses still fallen all over the table. There was a note on a dry area of the table.

Saionji picked it up. It read:

_'Since you fell asleep, and I don't have time to wait on you to wake, I've left. See you after school tomorrow._

_Arisugawa Juri'_

"I must've missed classes…Oh well, it's not like I really need them. Besides, all I have to do is win over those teachers and I get an instant A."

The kendo clad man began picking up the roses. "Now, all I have to do is figure out what to do all day. I'll start by picking up these roses, then I'll take a shower…"

**IX**

Saionji took it easy throughout the day. The thoughts were beginning to pick at him, because he couldn't seem to get them out of his head.

There wasn't a minuet when he didn't think about that dream and why he could have such a thing.

The kendoist hoped he could figure it out, at least before Juri arrived.

He didn't want to let her know that something was bothering him, much less a dream that he didn't even want to have.

**Preview for chapter 7:**

**Saionji and Juri come face to face once again for their daily after school meeting, with the dream bothering him, Saionji is a bit uneasy, but, if Juri ever figured out he had that dream, you could bet he'd never hear the end of it.**

**A/N: I'm evil again, but I've got you interested, right? Anyway, please R&R!**


	7. Why Should I Care?

**A/N: Another chapter? Yep! Thought I'd add in some comic relief from the normal tone of the story, perhaps I should change my genre. It's getting dark in here. **

**I think I'll up the genre to angst…**

**I I I**

**Vulnerability**

**Chapter 7: Why Should I Care?**

**By: Hinoto Nobukaze**

**I I I**

At lunch Juri sat at a solitary white table, preoccupied on the recent events that befell her the day before.

_'It seems there's a deeper side to Saionji then I had wanted to know about. I can't say that I don't feel wrong for reading this but…' the_ orange haired duelist pulled the book out of her brown satchel. _'I am intrigued by him. Hope he doesn't miss it too much.'_

The woman flipped the book open and began to read through Saionji's most internal feelings. _'I have to know the truth, even if it hurts him. He already thinks I know everything that's written in here, so this wouldn't hurt. Besides, I'm going to talk to him about it and see what his deal is…Though I don't know why I should care.'_

As she was reading she wore a look of apprehension on her face.

_'This stuff is pretty serious. I don't even see how he can hold himself so high in public with problems like these. Didn't he have any happy childhood memories?_

_Kind of makes me think that I was lucky when I had Shiori back then…No matter how much it hurts now…'_

Juri continued to read on, flipping the pages as time exceeded way past lunch. The curly haired duelist read through until his most recent entry, then shut the book.

_'That was pretty dark…So, maybe the arrogance is all just a façade? He seemed miserable, then his status rose to proud and happy, then it shot back down in a downward spiral leaving him the wrecked heap that's here before me.'_

She looked at the shut book in her hand, and then checked a nearby clock. _'I should be on my way to his dorm. Besides, I haven't seen him in school today, must be because of his depression.'_

The orange haired girl picked up the book and put it back into her satchel.

After a while, she came upon Saionji's dorm. She gave the door a charming knock.

"Come in." Juri heard in a dejected voice. She couldn't help but make a concerned face at the crestfallen voice being produced through the door, especially with all she's read. The door opened slowly to see Saionji sitting on the ground, disheartened in his Seitokai uniform with his shirt flying open, he had one knee bent up, an elbow resting on his knee propping his head up.

Saionji's hand lay against his forehead. The green haired man had the same look on his face as he did the day before.

Juri shut the door behind her and walked over to sit by the table. She sat her satchel on the table top. "You could have at least dressed yourself properly."

"…" Was her reply.

Juri sat right next to him. "Saionji."

He didn't even acknowledge her.

"Saionji."

She received no answer.

"Sai-on-ji…Hey, I'm talking to you." Juri pressed.

An amethyst eye looked at her. "Now you notice."

The eye looked back at the floor.

"What's wrong with you!" She grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and made him look at her. "Look I already told you. I didn't tell anyone about your damn book, nor did I look at it. I didn't humiliate you. Listen to me!"

The orange haired duelist drew her hand back to attempt to smack him out of it when an orange rose was held to her face, stopping her dead in her tracks and making her eyes widen.

"There are no such things as miracles." The woman could hear emitted from Saionji's mouth barely above a whisper. "Miracles could never know your true feelings, the only one who can," he ran a hand through her hair, "are those who can feel your pain and have experienced the same things you have."

Juri wanted to pull away and tell him where to shove that rose, and tell him not to get familiar, but she couldn't find the audacity to tell him, not after what she read in his diary. The orange haired woman took the rose from him and looked at it.

_'Does he really…understand me?' _She wondered. The woman gave a sympathetic and understanding look.

Juri released the collar of his white jacket with her other hand.

"What are you trying to say?" She asked.

Saionji mustered up all he could to give her a sad smile. "I understand you. Your loneliness, your weakness, your betrayal…your pain." He took her hand and tenderly held it in his own. She flinched at the contact and closed her eyes.

_'What's he trying to say, is he trying to be my…friend? But I don't need any friends……Why should I care what happens to him?...And yet…I can't help but to show him that deep inside…I guess I do…and always have…' _

The curly haired woman smiled at him and opened her eyes.

_'Is she…smiling and holding my hand?' _Vague confusion shown through his emotional eyes.

_'Why can't I pull away?' _The orange rose thought to herself.

Amethyst eyes looked into azure ones.

_'I feel…strange…' _Saionji thought to himself. _'This feeling is odd. Perhaps it's the feeling that someone cares about me, I mean, that someone is truly showing concern. Perhaps this is the understanding that I have been looking for…Maybe this is the something eternal I wanted…the eternal friendship…_

_Wait…_

_Did I just call Arisugawa my…friend?_

_I…'_

Juri looked at their hands. She could feel the warmth from Saionji's hand atop hers, and she could feel the supple petals of the rose against her hand.

_'Though I hold this rose, I don't feel the thorns. I feel so strange like this…With him. But…He's a man, how could I get these types of feelings from men…But I was never serious. I used to joke around with Miki, just to see that look on his face. But that was only a joke…Right?_

_I can't possibly feel anything for Kyouichi Saionji…Could I?_

_But…I…_

_I hate him…Don't I?_

_But…I only hate him because he's all that I disdain…But I only disdain him because he's everything I don't want to become…It's not like he wants to be…'_

The orange rose made a face of concern and mystification at the green rose.

_' But…I don't think I hate him anymore…I actually kind of understand him, and I can't help but want to find more out about him.'_

"Juri?" Saionji looked at her with the same mystified/ heartbreaking face.

"Yeah?"

"Nothing." Saionji turned his face to look at their hands.

_'I'm so utterly confused. What the hell is she trying to say to me? There's no such thing as something eternal…There can't be…I've already given up on that idea…_

_It can't be real…_

_Can it?_

_Can my something eternal truly exist without possessing the Rose Bride? Without going to the castle? Without the Revolution of the World?'_

His eyes were still transfixed on their hands.

_'What's he thinking? Why am I not letting go? What's wrong with me? Why do I feel like this…? For him?_

_Perhaps I don't hate him at all…But I don't want to believe myself…_

_Is he…blushing?'_

It was true; sitting there, with a very slight pink flush to his cheeks, hiding his eyes behind the two locks of green hair was Kyouichi Saionji, blushing.

Juri looked confused.

_'He's been the engaged to the Rose Bride for how long, and he's blushing because a woman touched him…'_

_'As long as she doesn't take my clothes off and call me the Rose Bride, I think I'll be all right…_

_Oh shit!_

_I can't tell her about that dream…_

_She's going to think that I'm fucked up in the head or something…Or maybe she's going to smack me again…Or she'll just look at me like I'm diseased or something…_

**_I _**_don't even know why I had that ridiculous dream! What the hell was I thinking?_

_Wait…I don't even know what the hell I'm thinking now…_

_Is this all some kind of dream?_

_Why should I be caring about her?_

_It's not like she means anything to me…_

_Does she?'_

**Preview for chapter 8: **

**Out of all of the places that Juri would rather be, she wouldn't be there, but would rather be in Saionji's room. But can Saionji prove that he's not worth hating?**

**A/N: I'm mean, but it's not what you think. I've been trying to keep IC throughout this whole thing, and I hope I'm doing a good job, please R&R and tell me,ok?**

**R&R!**


	8. If You Truly Care

**A/N: I actually got my computer fixed and it deleted this chapter and had to write it over. So, here is the re-written version of this chapter.**

**I I I**

**Vulnerability**

**Chapter 8: If You Truly Care**

**I I I**

_'Of course not!_

_She doesn't mean anything to me and it it's ludicrous of me to think so.' _Saionji tried to rid himself of all contemplation to lead up to such an idea.

He took his hand from atop hers, and sat it in his lap.

"Hmpf." Could be heard from the kendo-ka. They sat there, for a moment of stillness, then the sound of textile shuffling could be heard as Saionji buttoned his jacket up a bit, still leaving a few towards to top unbuttoned, to riel Juri's nerves a bit.

The curly haired lady was still silent.

"Well…" Saionji started.

"What did you mean by what you said?" The orange rose's head shot up at Saionji.

"What part of what I said, I said a lot within the past hour." Came the retort.

"When you said, there are no such things as miracles. Miracles could never know your true feelings, the only one who can are those who can feel your pain and have experienced the same things you have. "She replied.

"Can't I have the same belief? Why shouldn't I be able to? I don't believe in them."

"I never said that." Juri scoffed.

There was silence yet again.

"So, why do you think I humiliated you?" The orange haired duelist finally asked.

"Didn't you tell them?"

"Them as in who? The Seitokai? The Ohtori students?"

"Knowing you – all of them." Saionji replied.

"Actually, I haven't told anyone." Juri replied. "I've been trying to tell you this, but you kept flipping out on me."

"So you know…" A glimmer of defeat shown in Saionji's once defiant eyes.

_You're no different then Himemiya. You don't have a will of your own. If you did, then you lost it, and I always thought you were the stubborn one._

"What's there to know? I just read a couple of pages."

"That's why it was missing today." Saionji stated simply.

"If you knew I was looking in it, why didn't you come and try to find me?" Juri replied. "Or maybe you want to duel for it back?" She smirked and held up the green and black book.

Saionji didn't even try to take it away. He just looked at her with a defeated look, and then looked back at the ground.

_If you're so used to having no will, then maybe you can be my Rose Bride, and I can be your prince._

"I don't like the duels any more then you do."

"But you'll go to them for **her.**" Juri scoffed.

"Jealous?" The Vice President asked.

"Hmpf! You wish." The leopard purred.

"What if I wanted you." Saionji replied, smiling a bit.

"What?" The woman turned her head quickly to face Saionji. "What did you say?"

She looked surprised that he would be as bold as to mention such a thing.

"Why do you look so shocked? So uncharacteristic of you, Arisugawa." Saionji replied, no hint of playfulness to his voice, though he simply was only joking around with her, much to his brain's protests.

_'Wait…He what?' _Juri thought. _'He couldn't have meant that, but he didn't look like he was joking. He'd better be joking, for his own sake.'_

_'Why am I joking around with her? I don't even like her that much…' _Saionji thought to himself.

"That's not funny, Kyouichi!" Juri warned.

"But, what if I'm not joking?" the green haired man replied playfully, leaning into Juri's face, their noses almost touching.

"What are you - ?" The leopard asked, but cut herself off.

"Arisugawa…" The kendo-ka sighed and closed his eyes.

"Don't make me slap you again." Juri warned further.

"Sounds like something I'd say."

"What?"

"You try to be everything I am not, and yet you can't seem to escape that fate." Saionji teased.

"That's not funny, nor is it true."

"Oh, but it is." Saionji replied. "Someone holds your heart, just as someone holds mine, and in this twisted fairytale world, you cannot escape your destined fate, because you yourself do not control it."

"Hmphf!" Juri turned he head away from Saionji and closed her eyes.

"You can deny it all you wish, but you are a hypocrite."

"Hypocrite? I'm not a hypocrite." The curly haired duelist denied.

"You are a hypocrite. You and I are not that different at all, and yet you have this heir of thinking that you're higher then I am." Saionji told her. "You like to be strong on the outside, though on the inside you're broken and tattered. You never show it outright, but I've caught on to you. You might know things I haven't said within the pages of this book, but some thing you get by analysis, and not just something that can be read within a bindery. I know you more then you could ever know yourself."

Juri turned her head to look at him. "So what if you feel the same way, it doesn't mean that we're alike. It doesn't mean you know entirely how I feel."

"But you do admit you feel something beneath your façade."

"Apparently I'm not the only one."

"I never denied that." The green haired man replied.

"You do to the rest of the world."

"They do not know what you know."

She paused, nothing but a heavy silence hung in the air around them. Juri hung her head in defeat. "Maybe your right, but that last thing you said had better been a joke."

Saionji held a slight victorious smile. "What thing?"

"The thing about wanting me." Azure eyes narrowed.

Saionji gave her a playful, yet uncertain answer. "If you truly care, in time you'll find out."

"What?" Juri looked confused for one moment in her life.

_'What the hell did that mean? What do you feel towards me, Kyouichi? You'd better be playing around, for your sake…and mine.'_

******TBC**

**Preview for chapter 9: **

**Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were. **

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, I've had to re-write this chapter. To be quite honest, I think it turned out better then the other one I've written. Please tell me what you think! Sorry if it's a bit OOC I wrote it when I was sick and I'm sure Oneesan would clear up all OOC parts for me, thanks.**

_A/N: This is Oneesan and no, there were no errors character wise here. This chapter is in original format._

_Please read and review and tell this author what you think of their works._


	9. The Truth Hurts

**Here we go with another chapter. I've been having a bit of trouble on where to take this next, I figure I'd get this rolling off by building a friendship, or at least an understanding.**

**Please review me and enjoy this chapter.**

**I I I**

**Vulnerability**

**Chapter 9: The Truth Hurts**

**By: Hinoto Nobukaze**

**I I I**

"Juri." Saionji told the woman who sat on the other side of the table.

"What is it?" She replied, blinking.

A slender hand sat a green and black book in the middle of the table. "You want to talk about it, then let's talk about it."

"You actually want to?"

"Yes."

The green haired man stood up and walked over to the side of the table that Juri resided on, sitting beside of her and staring intently at her.

"So," The woman picked up his hand by the wrist. Her touch was strong, yet gentle and something else. Just like in his dream…

_"If you're so used to having no will, then maybe you can be my Rose Bride, and I can be your prince. We can start the consummation ceremony…Now."_

Saionji couldn't keep from it; a slight flush came to his face, which caused Juri to produce an odd stare. They didn't speak, their bodies frozen in time. The kendoist turned his head, his hair shading his face, covering the almost unnoticeable flush. After a few moments's passing time, an elegant hand moved the hair away, causing him to slowly turn his head to her.

"Why are you blushing?" She finally asked.

"…" Saionji froze. _'There's no way in hell I'm going to tell her I was dreaming about her!'_

"I'm just uncomfortable." Giving the best possible reply he could, though he knew it was lame.

"You're the one who moved over here." The curly haired woman replied, holding a skeptical look. She turned his wrist over, revealing some small thin scars on it. "I was going to ask if you will do this to yourself."

"You don't care."

"I do." She admitted.

"What?" Saionji looked surprised.

"I do care, ok?"

"What if you do? You're not going to make a fool of me again."

"Protest, protest. Look, I don't want to fight about this anymore. You can't ever just believe me; you have to protest about everything."

"What are you up to?"

"Why do you always think I'm up to something?" Juri asked.

"Because you are. Just like you read that book."

"It's not like I told anyone, though you keep thinking that I did. You can't even trust anyone."

"Ugh…Fuck you." He turned his face from her, but his chin was grabbed and his head turned back to face her. "Tell me, Kyouichi, do you?"

"What if I do?" He asked.

"Look, I want to tell you something." She looked into his eyes, holding his chin in one hand and his wrist gently in the other. "I understand how you must feel. I was wrong about you, Kyouichi."

She gave a defeated and sympathetic look, which was rare for the leopard. The green rose sighed in defeat.

"I do."

"Your so weak, Kyouichi." Juri sighed.

"Fuck you. You have weaknesses that are jut as bad, if not worse then my own." The green haired kendoist shot down the leopard.

"I never said I wasn't." Came the depressed reply.

"So, you admit it?" He replied.

"If I ever catch you doing that around me…"

"You'll smack me, yes, I know." Saionji replied.

"Who can say?" Juri replied sadly, looking down, knowing that was another shot from the green haired man.

Suddenly, she felt the strong embrace of the green rose.

Azure eyes widened as she could feel her head rest against the bare chest of the man.

_'Saionji…' _She thought to herself. _'He's not going to call me weak, or have anything sarcastic to say? … Maybe I truly have misjudged you, Kyouichi…'_

They sat there in a moment of silence, Juri never tried in the slightest to pull away, too depressed to do so. She didn't feel like fighting against Saionji. She felt vulnerable to a verbal attack. The green haired man, also not saying a word.

_'Juri, don't push away from me, not now.' _He thought. _I want to show you that I want to know all of your secrets. Perhaps you can learn to open up. Only you know all of my secrets. '_

The curly haired duelist felt oddly comfortable within the green roses' embrace.

_'He's so warm, not venomous or cold like Shiori. At least he's not a total iceberg. I never knew we had the same outlook on things; then again…I never tried to speak with him on the matters, either._

_Why does it seem that I can take some odd comfort in being this close to him? Though, at times, he can be an unrelenting ass.'_

_'I wonder why she isn't shoving me off, or for that matter, telling me where to shove things?' _Saionji thought to himself as he in took the sweet aroma of her spiral locks. _'She stirs something within me, a feeling of happiness, or what I believe is happiness. I don't know, I haven't felt a sensation like this sense childhood. It's like something is opening me up, in more ways then one.'_

"Saionji?" He could her, muffled from beneath him.

"What is it?" He asked, not knowing that he was speaking directly into her ear.

"So, why did you give me the terms that you did after you saved my life?"

"I was going to make you do what ever I wished, but things didn't end up like that. I was going through a small depression, and…I was lonely." The last part came out smally.

_'He was…Lonely? What does **that** mean?' _She wondered as she recalled something he had said to him earlier.

_"Maybe your right, but that last thing you said had better been a joke."_

_"What thing?"_

_"The thing about wanting me."_

_'And I'm still wondering if that's a joke.'_ She thought. _'I'd feel too bad if I hid things from him now. After all, I **did **pry.'_

"So am I." She finally admitted.

"I could have figured. Perhaps your just as cold and hurt as I am." Saionji replied.

_'I wish he'd stop talking so close to my ear.' _She thought.

"Not completely."

Shiori would never love her. There really are no such things as miracles. Was she really destined to have everything she wanted? She didn't know. This comfort felt nice, though it was from Saionji of all people. Perhaps he was the one person in the world she could trust. During those few days of being with him, she was glad to have gotten to know him, no matter how rocky it was at first.

He seemed so much different now. Perhaps all of his tendencies to act like an ass were all a façade. It was almost like he was schizophrenic.

But she knew now…She knew that she could trust him at least a little.

They were not only bound by the rose signet rings and their membership in the Seitokai, they were bound by something more. They had made their own revolution, the revolution of the heart.

"Saionji…" She finally spoke.

"Yes?" His voice reverberated in the depths of her earlobe.

She put a hand on his chest and pushed him back gently out of her ear and looked up at him, his hands still around her in a loose embrace.

"So, tell me about what you didn't write in that book."

**TBC**

**Preview for chapter 10: **

**Soon, very soon you shall know my secrets.**

**A/N: I think I've had too many love songs for one day. Hope this isn't OOC. I was just writing it as I was listening to love songs, so yeah. ;**

**Anyway, Chapter 10 will be better. Sorry about my fluff-fest chapter. There will probably be another one after this. Please R&R and tell me if I got OOC, if I did I'll probably re-write this.**

**Please R&R!**


	10. Waking Up

**A/N: By popular request, I'm back. Here is chapter 10. Now that I have time over the summer, there will be a lot more chapters from me. I'm also going to bring back TOSOTP Spin-Off and a sequel to Vulnerability that probably won't be very long. It will be SaionjiXJuri and KozueXShiori. **

**Anyway, please R&R!**

**I I I**

**Vulnerability**

**Chapter 10: Waking Up**

**By: Hinoto Nobukaze**

**I I I**

The green haired man and the orange rose began to converse over the matters of the book. But now, it seemed so different, now they were at least comfortable with each other. There was no disdain and no misunderstandings. They were in complete understanding of each other.

Each one of them told the other of their true feelings, not holding anything back from the other. Saionji had told Juri of his habits, and how he truly felt about Anthy's betrayal. He told her of his abusive childhood and how he felt about things in general.

Juri was letting out things slowly, but she found it a lot easier to coincide with the kendoist and was surprised that he was so similar to her.

She felt an odd comfort zone around him, and not surprisingly he felt the same around her.

"So, that's what it was like for you so long ago." Juri spoke.

"Yes, things haven't gotten much better past then." Saionji replied.

"You still have the old habits of the past." The woman spoke. "Guess you aren't the only one who can't let go of how things used to be."

"What do you mean by that?"

Juri began to tell Saionji a bit more about herself and her past. She didn't know why she was telling him, and mentally berated herself for doing so, but felt that the kendoist would understand.

During her whole duration with the kendoist, he had done nothing but surprise her. She had uncovered the most intricate things about Saionji and her opinion of him had definitely changed.

She felt that she could be friends with this man. Juri never thought that she'd be saying that about the kendoist.

Oh, how she used to disdain him! But now…

Now she finds it easy to coincide with him.

She understands him, just as he understands her.

They are slowly working to be fiends.

And at this rate, things can only get better.

The two spent much time speaking of the days of old, both contributing an equal amount into the conversation. They both offered advice and comfort to their counterpart. Their counterpart could hardly believe they were talking to the same person, much less as a friend or close acquaintance.

_'This is all so strange.' _Juri thought to herself as she was speaking to Saionji. _'He seems a lot happier now, even though we're speaking of such painful memories. He's not a total iceberg after all. _

_In fact…_

_He's so much more then that when I look at him now. He's a pained individual who has no choice but to keep those emotions in. His pain is so great that when he does, in fact, let his pain out, it causes him to go into a state of temporary insanity._

_He is cold, but so am I…_

_In the end, we're not that different…'_

Soon after the talk of past issues were all said and done, the two began to talk of things in general. They spoke of humorous things that happened to the both of them.

"I'll be damned if I almost walked out of my dorm with one shoe on." Saionji finished a humorous story of how he had bee in a hurry that day. "So, I cursed to myself and walked back into the room." He began, to finish the rest of the story.

Throughout the story Juri was giving him a hard time, letting the sarcasm flow, as Saionji just laughed. It wasn't funny to him back then, but now it seemed quite humorous.

He didn't know why he was randomly telling Juri something that made him look stupid, but the thought of her using it against him was the last thing on his mind at the moment.

After moments of him telling her humorous stories about himself, she decided to tell a few, but not too many as to make her look undignified. She didn't want to make herself look too foolish.

It was better to keep him at a distance for now.

There were a few sarcastic comments from Saionji, but it was mostly laughter. He was actually having a good time for once in his life. Happiness wasn't something either one of them was used to at all.

They could both feel an odd, tingling and warm sensation within them. Was it happiness?

_'Never too close, are you Juri?' _Saionji thought to himself. _'Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad as to want to decipher you as well. You are definitely proving interesting to me._

_You seem a different person when around me. Is this the other side that no one sees?'_

The two sat there in silence for a while.

"So, what about that flaking paint?" Juri finally asked sardonically.

"Guess we ran out of things to speak of." The green haired man blinked.

"Well, that was odd."

"What do you mean?"

"We were…laughing. I haven't done that in a while." The leopard told him.

"I really haven't either. It felt foreign and strange." He looked perplexed for a moment.

"Something we'll have to get used to, I suppose."

"Indeed." Saionji replied. "We don't have many days left, and finally we get along. Kind of sad, isn't it? Not like it matters much. After those days pass we will have the same relationship we always have."

"That's what you think." Juri replied.

"What?"

"Let's just say I have a different opinion of you now." She said. "You're not the way I had first envisioned you."

"Well, I suppose the same could apply for me."

"What does that make us?"

"Friends, I suppose."

Juri just looked at Saionji, then closed her eyes and smiled. "I suppose so."

**TBC**

**Preview for chapter 11:**

**Miracles don't blossom in the Garden of Eden.**

**A/N: Yay! Another chapter! Sorry about this, I haven't been working on this due to the fact that I'm trying to finish The Other Side Of The Picture**

**Please be patient. Feel free to R&R and tell me what you think!**


	11. In The Garden of Eden

**A/N: Here I am with chapter 11! This story is at its ****high point**** and now will get into the action. I hope that this has truly been a great experience and now without further adue, I present to you, chapter 11 of Vulnerability.**

**Vulnerability **

**Chapter 11: In The Garden of Eden**

**By: Hinoto Nobukaze**

Juri walked along the winding paved sidewalks of Ohtori Academy, wondering where Saionji had disappeared to. She had searched the Kendo Hall and his dorm room only to find that he was absent from both. As she was walking, she stopped at the green house.

Azure eyes leveled it with a gaze. Through the transparent glass in the door, she could see the green haired man, holding a green rose to his nose and smelling gently of its intoxicating scent.

He opened his eyes, hearing the door open.

"So, there you are." She told him.

"Oh, Juri." The green headed man turned to the curly haired woman.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as she walked up behind him.

"I was just spending some time in the Rose Garden."

"You don't come here often."

"Neither do you, Juri."

"I was looking for you." Came her simple reply.

The two stood there for a while, each in complete silence for a lack of a better subject to bring up. Amidst their silence, they could hear a set of laughs, both effeminate. Azure eyes averted themselves to the source of the said laughter.

"Who's that?" Juri asked, looking to her new found friend for an answer.

"Someone else is here."

"Thanks for the observation. I wouldn't have known without that clue."

Saionji sighed in defeat. "Well, I'm not psychic. I can't see them from here."

Suddenly, the two figures made themselves know, but there was a third smaller figure that was unknown to the two. An upside down watering can came speeding towards them, the voice screaming in a high pitched tongue.

"Huh?" the two said in unison as the golden pot whizzed by them at top speed.

"Chu-Chu, come back!" The two taller figures ran up to the two. It was Anthy and Utena. The pink haired girl stopped and blinked in confusion at seeing the two, neither one a usual sight in the rose garden.

"Oh, hello Saionji-sempai, Juri-sempai. " Anthy beamed. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to discuss something with the Vice President." Juri told them, not wanting to tell the girls that she was playing personal servant to him for the week.

"Of course." The green haired man said, playing along and knowing Juri's reason. He too figured that no one else needed to know.

"I thought you all had your meetings in the Seitokai Meeting hall atop of Ohtori." The pink headed girl blinked.

"We do what we wish." The curly haired duelist told her. "It's really none of your business."

"I believe we were leaving."

A silent nod was emitted from the leopard, as the two walked away.

"Hey, wait!" Utena replied as she ran after them. They both simultaneously looked over their shoulder.

"Does this have to do with Himemiya? Have you come here to talk to her?" She asked.

"We-"

Saionji was cut off.

"We have no business with the Rose Bride." Juri said quickly and glared at the kendoist as if she were saying _'don't even try it.'_

Anthy came running up with a flower pot a few minuets after the sharp reply. "Look, Utena-sama!"

"Huh?" The pink haired girl replied, looking back towards the running bronzed figure.

"Utena-sama, the rose is getting better. I think it's regained all of its life, and no more bugs." She held it up gleefully.

"Oh wow," Utena remarked. "It looks so much better! It must have been a miracle."

Amethyst eyes went to azure, which turned as cold as the stars and narrowed. He knew what her reply would be. "There's no such thing as miracles."

Utena looked at her rose crest ring. "They have to exist. " She said absent mindedly as she recalled the visions of her prince. _'If they didn't exist, then I wouldn't have a savior, a noble prince who gave me this ring, and it's a duty to protect more then just my own nobility but his as well. He IS my miracle.'_

The green haired man sighed as his companion just glared.

"They don't exist." She said coldly.

"But not even you can explain what happened in our last duel. That truly was a miracle." Utena replied.

"No it wasn't, it was an error and a slip of the sword. "She argued.

"I agree with Juri. You might think that miracles exist, but you are naieve." Saionji told her.

"What?"

"Utena-sama." Anthy looked to her friend who was a bit angry and feeling caged in by the two Seitokai members.

"Anthy believes in miracles, don't you, Anthy?" Utena asked, turning to her green eyed friend.

"Of course I do, Utena-sama." She nodded.

"She only agrees with you because you are the recent victor of the duels." Saionji told her. "I thought we discussed this matter during our first duel. The Rose Bride agrees with and abides by whoever is her prince."

"That's not true! Anthy is just a normal girl who wants to have friends, just like anyone else!" Utena denied Saionji's statement.

"You just don't get it." Juri sighed.

"No, you two don't get it." Utena replied, angry at their truths about not only the Rose Bride but miracles in general.

The pink haired prince was fuming at this point in time, this wasn't her day. In the back ground, Chu-Chu was still running around, screaming beneath the golden watering can.

He ran into the wall and the can remained in its place, the small being knocking itself out as it collided with the wall.

She felt the need to protect her friend, who stood, staring blankly behind her. "That's it!" She finally told the two of them.

Juri and Saionji looked over at her, Saionji still holding the green rose.

Utena had to protect her honor, her prince's honor and her best friend and "bride." She had no choice but to prove them wrong. There were no miracles blooming in the garden of Eden, but Utena would soon change that.

"I challenge you to a duel! I'll prove to you that miracles really do exist."

**TBC**

**Preview for chapter 12:**

**Juri is challenged to a duel, but she needs a little help. Will Saionji comply to her odd request?**

**A/N: I hope Utena was IC here, I decided to have some confrontation and provide good evidence in it. Sorry if this seemed a little rushed, but I had to have something happen in this chapter. Anyway, please R&R and tell me what you think!**


	12. Engagement

**A/N: Sorry about my absence. I've been lost in reading fanfiction, trying to gather ideas and I think I have some. I'm going to be making a sequel to this, probably not very long though. It's going to be about Shiori. **

**It will be femmeslash for all those yuri/shoujo-ai fans out there, but it will have the pairing of Juri and Saionji.**

**Vulnerability**

**Chapter 12: Engagement**

**By: Hinoto Nobukaze**

Today was the day.

The day of the duel.

Juri walked through the dorms, trying to find Saionji, since Utena had challenged not only one, but both of them to a duel. She went straight to his dorm, expecting to find him there.

She knocked on the door and received a quaint. "Come in."

The orange haired woman walked into the room silently.

"You know that you don't have to come back here anymore." The green haired man pointed to the calendar.

Juri looked at the calendar and it wasn't a lie. Today was the last day of the week. She closed her eyes and was silent for a few moments. Asking for his help wasn't something that came naturally to her.

She noticed the amethyst eyes staring at her. "Is this about the duel you were challenged to?" He asked.

"She didn't state a name you know. She could have challenged you to a duel for all we know."

"She was looking at you." He looked to the table, away from Juri with a disgruntled look on his face. "Besides, she-" He cut himself off from admitting something shameful to Juri, then said something else to quickly cover it up. "I thought you were just going to just leave."

"Would you quit being such an ass and just tell me what you were going to say. It's about Tenjou, isn't it?"

Saionji winced. He didn't like admitting his losses to Utena, but he knew he wasn't the only one as he looked at Juri and narrowed his eyes.

"What?" She replied simply.

"You lost to her as well."

"I won't lose this time, and your going to help me." The orange haired duelist said sternly.

"What?" Saionji questioned.

"I need your help." She told the green haired man.

"I'm not going to let you and Tenjou make a fool of me." He glared.

"Why do you think everyone's out to get you?" Juri asked. "I don't care about Tenjou any more then you do. Why would I ask you to help me, and then turn the tables?"

"Because it's the perfect self-centered plan." Saionji replied, "And it **has **been done before."

"It's different this time."

"How?"

"I can't believe I'm going to say this but…"

"What the hell do you want? You've been annoying me with your constant babbling about losses in duels."

"Saionji, let's not make this difficult. You remember me calling you an unrelenting ass? " She sat at the table. "You're acting like one."

"Fuck you."

"Look, I'm tired of fighting with you." She saw his rose signet ring laying on the tabletop. A distance from the ring, she saw Saionji's hand, lying upon the table, beside of the infamous green book.

She grabbed his hand firmly, and slid the ring on his finger.

"What the hell do you want? I don't think you'd come all this way to force me to wear this damn ring again. I already told you that I gave up on the duels." He stared Juri straight in the eyes.

She stared back and replied sternly. "I need you."

"For what? The duel?"

A hand grasp his shoulder and pulled him in, until they were nose to nose, Juri smiled a small smile and said lowly. "I need you to help me duel Tenjou."

The green haired man's face drew a blank expression for the shortest of times, and then he frowned and shoved her back to regain his personal space. "Forget it. Just because we've been getting along better then we did before doesn't mean that you can take advantage of me like Touga and End of the World does."

"You've said that before." The curly haired duelist's face regained its frown and serious demeanor.

"I mean it." He growled. "I'm not going to lose to Tenjou again. You will **not **make a fool of me again."

She sighed. He had told her **that** before too.

"Look, it's not like that either. I'm perfectly aware that we're both pawns. You're not the only victim here." She leaned in, regaining her space as she rested her hands on his shoulders from across the table.

"You're admitting your place? How unbefitting of you, Juri." He closed his eyes and smiled a warm yet victorious smile as he felt something running through his hair. It was Juri's hands.

"Guess you opened my eyes through that."

"What?"

"I must admit. It was wrong of me to treat you like I have in the past. " She swallowed her pride for this moment, yet a part of her was still insisting that she had said too much,

Amethyst eyes narrowed as an incriminating look crossed Saionji's face. "What are you up to?"

"Ugh. There you go again with your assuming."

"Like I said, my reasoning in that argument still stands. Because you always are."

"Well I'm not! " It was rare to see the leopard loose that cool of hers, and amethyst eyes slightly widened and he kept it in him not to back down from that retort. They were close enough together, and Juri's hand went back to holding his, but it was gently this time.

"Juri…" He replied softly, the sound even foreign to his own ears as he saw the desperate look within the depths of azure orbs.

She looked down, a sorrowful expression eminent on her face. "I need you. Please Saionji."

These actions and feeling emitted from Arisugawa seemed foreign to him. Never before had he seen such things from the reputed fencing captain. He had remembered the points in which they had gotten along and he had often wondered about the true meaning of some of her statements.

But, truth be told, Juri didn't even know.

How familiar was this moment? Over the course of the week, their friendship went from Seitokai members, acting rough, rude and sarcastic, to duelists put against each other in End of the World's game, to dorm mates, and now dueling partners and dare she admit it, friends…And perhaps…Something more…

Saionji had a hold on her, and she didn't know why she needed him, but she did. It seemed that the green haired man was the seductive enchanter who had cast a spell so whimsically and slyly on her.

Damn him for that.

Saionji didn't know if she was planning something or not, but he chose to believe the fact that Juri was the misunderstood individual in his dorm room, telling him the things that she'd tell no one else.

The dark secrets that were shared between the two should-be princes.

"I'll do this for you, Juri but I won't be your pawn. Swear that to me at least." He replied.

"You won't be my pawn Saionji." She looked back up at him.

_'You will be my Rose Bride.' _Juri thought to no one but herself.

**TBC**

**Preview for chapter 13:**

**Saionji and Juri face off against Utena, but in the process of dueling, do Saionji and Juri discover things about themselves, and their relationship as well?**

**A/N: I pray that was in character. Though they are friends I don't define their relationship as anything but it has been, except for making Saionji a bit nicer towards Juri and vice versa. I'm praying within the next two chapters, I can make them work.**

**Please R&R and tell me about it.**


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